in an era when objective truth is a nice-to-have and the bar for politicians is in the depths of hell, it’s helpful to have someone like Rosemary Barton in the mix. For more than two decades, Barton, currently the CBC’s chief political correspondent, has chatted with, fact-checked and, when the occasion merits it, borderline interrogated the country’s most consequential public figures. Lately, thanks to some unusually exciting policy shifts under our refreshingly boring new prime minister, Canada’s newsmakers are commanding global headlines. But first, they’ll probably pop up on Rosemary Barton Live.

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And yet, as any interviewer will attest—including me—her job has never been harder. If politicians would prefer to sidestep tough inquiries, The Joe Rogan Experience and Call Her Daddy offer warmer, cushier landings. But as this country embarks on a 360-degree nation-building makeover, Canadians have more questions than ever. Barton is doing her best to get answers—no filler.

Is it okay if I call you “Rosie”?Prime ministers call me Rosie, so you can too.

Perfect. Between the endless trade war, Mark Carney’s election and his now-iconic Davos speech, the whole world seems to be experiencing the kind of Canadian-politics fever we haven’t seen since Justin Trudeau set the internet aflame. Have you felt that attentional shift, too?Yeah. Some of it is just a function of it being a dramatic year: Justin Trudeau was forced to leave, for example. Most of it, though, is because of our proximity to the United States; we feel the strong winds of the president first. The Prime Minister has leveraged that for his own political gain—which, you know, fair enough. Canadians are also responding in ways that are unusual for us: not buying American liquor, not going to the States. The spotlight is still on the U.S., but the world is looking at us differently.

We’ve definitely benefited from that side-by-side comparison.I covered the first Trump administration. It was jarring and busy, and they renegotiated NAFTA. But this one… it is just relentless. Relentless. Sometimes, things get a little sleepy during a majority government. Because there’s Donald Trump, I don’t think that’s going to be the case.

Maybe you’re hard to shock at this point, but I’m curious to know the last time news broke and you went, I can’t believe that happened. It’s a blur. Someone counted how many “specials” the CBC did in 2025 to cover major news events, and it was, like, 27. Chrystia Freeland quit. Trudeau quit. Tariffs were put in place on a Saturday. Even with the recent floor-crossings, my team had an ever-changing list of six people who we heard might make a move, and Marilyn Gladu wasn’t on it. That Ottawa was able to keep the lid so tight on that was pretty remarkable for them.

Have you noticed a difference between interviewing career politicians and one whose background is largely economics and Goldman Sachs?Carney has a different view of the world—that’s what the Davos speech was about. He’s an economist by trade, so that’s where his head is most of the time. I will say he’s not interested in spending time on light or fluffy questions, but neither am I. On the other hand, even if he’s only really been in politics for a year, he is a politician. He’s not always forthcoming and sometimes sticks to talking points. And politicians have big personalities.

One of the best examples of his big personality peeking through was........

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